What Does Love Feel Like?
by Caitie Manda
Summary: This takes place during DOD, right after Doon escapes from the Troggs. The rest is completely mine! ...well, except for the characters and the setting...those belong to Jeannie DuPrau...
1. Chapter 1

Doon could see the light at the end of the path faintly slicing through the pitch blackness. He had his generator in his hands, cranking the handle as he went along, and reached the end of the inclined slope. He came into the cave entrance. Doon could see the rolling green hills and blue sky outside of the cave, and as he stepped out onto the grass a slight breeze cooled his face.

He could still smell the scent of the rain, and he saw that the ground beneath his feet was damp. He knew that Lina couldn't have been able to walk in the middle of a rainstorm, so surely, Doon reasoned, she wasn't too far away. He began to run across the landscape and up a hill. He turned in all directions to even get a glimpse of her. All he saw was vast emptiness.

Doon cupped his hands around his mouth to form a sort of megaphone and yelled as loudly as he could, "Lina!" the reply to this was the sound of his own echoing voice. "Lina Mayfleet! Where are you?"

Lina's head snapped around, her body spinning to catch up with it. She had heard Doon's voice. It was faint, but there was no mistake. "Lina! Lina, where are you?" she began running, her dark brown braided hair waving out behind her. Her bangs flew from her face, and she shaded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the tall grassy hills. She could see a dark smudge atop one of them, and she knew exactly what - more specifically who - it was.

"Doon!" Lina cried, "I'm here!" She picked up her speed, moving now as fast as she could, and waved her hands madly in the air above her head. "I'm here, Doon, look!"

Doon could see a small silhouette flitting across the grassy land. Doon was so relieved and overjoyed to see Lina that he ran to meet her. They soon were close enough that they could see outlines of clothing and facial expressions and mouths and noses and eyes. Doon's feet finally met flat, level ground. Lina was within an arm's reach away.

Doon slowed himself to a stop, and Lina was slowing down, too, but she crashed into him in a hug. Doon staggered backwards a bit under the weight, but he stayed on his feet. He wrapped his arms around Lina's tiny waist and hugged her back. "I was so scared for you." Lina whispered into Doon's chest, "I just didn't know what to do when you got captured." Doon rested his chin on Lina's head, and he held her small frame close to his wide, muscular one.

"You were brave, though," Doon told her, "because you managed to get out of the dark alone."

"So were you when you escaped." Lina reminded him. She started to shake beneath his grip. "I was so worried…"

"Hey," Doon said softly, pulling her away from him so that he could see her face. She looked up at him with tears in her deep blue eyes. They spilled out onto her cheeks as she blinked, and Doon reached up and brushed them away lightly. "I'm okay now, aren't I?"

Lina chuckled a little at this. "I guess so." She couldn't help noticing how his shaggy dark brown hair blew sideways across his forehead or how his chocolaty brown eyes shone with his true sympathy for her. She noticed things she hadn't ever noticed before, like how the square of his jaw curved into his neck, or how warm and comforting it was to be in his embrace.

Doon felt his breath catch as he looked at the teenager in front of him. The wind blew between the two, and he noted how the sun reflected the natural red and gold in Lina's hair; the way that her cheekbones curved just so; the way that the base of her neck met the curve of her shoulders. Lina had a few strands of hair blown loose from her braid and hanging in her face. Doon reached out and tucked them behind her ear.

Lina blushed slightly at his touch, but she liked it; she liked the feeling of his fingertips brushing against her skin. They stood together for a little longer until they realized how exactly they were standing – Doon's and Lina's arms were still loosely wrapped around each other. "Doon?" Lina asked, a question popping into her head.

"Yeah?" Doon replied.

"When should we start heading back?"

"Oh," Doon said. He reluctantly let his arms drop to his sides, and Lina did the same. He turned and looked up at the sky. The sun was nearly setting. "Probably tomorrow. If we start going now, it'll be dark before we get back to Sparks."

"True." Lina agreed. "Where should we go, then?" Lina and Doon both examined their surroundings.

"Well," Doon said, frustration inching its way into his voice, "it looks like the only thing we can do is backtrack to Ember mountain and stay overnight in the cave."

"That's not so bad." Lina said reassuringly, turning to look at the distance between their current position and the mountain. If they started right at that moment, they could arrive at the mountain by nightfall. The two teenagers adjusted their backpack straps and began their walk.

They reached the cave and lit a fire, ate their dinner (which consisted of dried cheese, bread, and grapes that Lina had handpicked), and unrolled their blankets and put down their pillows. Lina sat relatively close to the fireside, and Doon sat on the opposite side of the fire as her.

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><p>It was late - the stars were twinkling and the sun had gone down – and Lina sat up shivering. The fire had shrunk down to the last dying embers, so Lina threw in some more wood that was in a small pile by the fire along with a match. The fire on the match instantly began spreading to the twigs and chunks of dry wood, and it soon started stretching its bright orange head up towards the roof of the cave. A cool, wintry breeze drifted into the cave from the entrance.<p>

Lina rubbed her arms with her shaking palms, and when she realized that it wasn't warming her, she pulled her knees up to her chest and reached out to warm her hands by the heat of the fire. Doon woke up, having heard Lina's attempts at getting warm, and sat up. She looked up from her hands that she was warming by the fire and smiled a chattery smile. Doon walked over to her and sat right beside her, taking off his jacket and draping it onto her shoulders.

Lina was grateful for the warmth, and she put her arms in the sleeves and pulled the jacket tightly around her. She began leaning her head over, towards Doon, but then stopped herself. "May I?" She asked.

"Sure." Doon replied, allowing the girl to rest her head on his shoulder. He took pleasure by feeling the weight on him, feeling the slight warmth from her cheek through his shirt. Lina shivered again; Doon wrapped his arm around her in response.

"Thanks." Lina said, snuggling into his embrace. Doon's cheeks flared up bright red in embarrassment. "You're so warm." Lina commented a few minutes later. Doon chuckled a little.

Lina liked this very much. She was so close to Doon that she could feel his body warmth, and she felt him shake with quiet laughter. She laughed with him.

Eventually, they fell into a peaceful silence. Softly, ever so faintly, Lina's breath slowed, and her chest rose and fell as she slept. Doon slowly wrapped his free arm beneath her legs and, holding her bridal style, he laid her down gently on her pallet, covering her up with her blue-gray woolen blanket. Doon, unable to help himself, sat and watched her sleep for a while.

She looked so at ease; nothing in the world could possibly disturb or harm her, it seemed. Her long, dark lashes fanned out beneath her eyes in two perfect arcs, and her pink lips were perfectly relaxed. She sighed in a hushed undertone, her lips parting for a short moment. When they came back together, they formed a sort of loose smile. Doon wondered what she was dreaming about. He watched her roll onto her side, facing him, and observed how unperturbed she was.

He noticed, after she had moved, her blanket had slipped down past her stomach. Doon reached over and carefully pulled it back up to her neck. Lina's breath rose and fell slowly, in a steady pace. He decided, after feeling his eyelids start to grow heavy, that it was probably best for him to go to sleep, so he stood up and started to walk to his pallet. No sooner had he stood up and had taken a step, Lina whispered something.

Doon turned on his heels and kneeled back down in front of her, listening in case she spoke again. "Doon…" she mumbled. Doon jumped in surprise at this, but stayed by her side. Briefly, he wondered what she could have been dreaming about. _"Why," _a voice questioned Doon from the dark corners of his conscience, _"would she dream about me?"_ He turned his attention to her sleeping form once again, and reassured himself. _"It's probably just a fantasized adventure of some sort."_ When this thought came to him, he began wondering things like, _"Where would we go?"_ and _"What would we do?"_

Doon yawned, and, feeling exhaustion even more than before, decided that he would go to sleep. So he walked over to his pallet, still jacketless because he had lent it to the freezing Lina, and curled up underneath the sanctuary of his warm blankets and fell to sleep almost as soon as his head touched his pillow.

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><p><strong><span>Author's Note<span>**

_So? Not bad for my first City of Ember fic, huh? ) I was really frustrated one day when I was looking up City of Ember fics. Do you know how many there are, not including mine? 70! XP Including mine, that makes 71! I'm going to be working hard to make some Ember fics, because it's quite sad to me. I mean, I made PLENTY of Inuyasha fanfics, and there are 1000+ of those! I am determined now to put up as many as I can! The thoughts of new COE stories are already blooming in my head...better start writing them down before I forget... u^.^_


	2. Chapter 2

The first dim rays of sunlight were rested atop Lina's eyebrows, and the result of this was that she woke up. The first thing she noticed was that the fire was completely burnt out – where the ring of gray rocks formed the fire pit, there was only black ash and charred scraps of burnt wood. Lina also noticed that the pile of wood she had gathered to feed the fire with had been completely diminished. Her eyes shifted to Doon.

He was sleeping heavily in his pallet. There was a certain beauty about him that Lina hadn't noticed before, and she was startled that such a thing would come to her mind. But she couldn't deny it; her best friend was quickly becoming a handsome man. She shuffled over to his pallet to take a look at him. He was lying on his side, back away from the fire pit, so she stepped around to sit cross-legged beside him.

Doon's long, shaggy hair was slanted across his forehead, going along the tops of his thick eyebrows. Lina's small, pale hand reached out unconsciously to stroke his cheek. In the back of her mind, she wanted this. The front of her mind, though, since it was the more active one with a much better conscience, screamed, _"NO! You mustn't do it!" _

Of course, Lina ignored it and allowed the back of her fingers to touch his smooth face. She would've liked this even more if he was awake, but she probably wouldn't have had the courage to do it then. Her fingers slowly moved down from just below his temples to his jaw line, where she forced herself to pull her hand back. Her blue eyes strayed to his lips and lingered there.

He had, in her mind, the most perfectly formed lips in the whole world. His bottom lip curved just so to meet his upper lip, which had an almost-heart-shape to it. How badly she wanted to kiss him at that moment was completely indescribable; she could feel a tingling sensation spreading all through her body, from her fingers to her toes, and it was warm and wonderful._ "Could this be,"_ Lina wondered, _"what they call love?" _she stared at his sleeping face again, so full of innocence and life, and pondered the answer.

Lina was the kind of person who, once her mind was set on something, she tried her hardest to accomplish it. Her mind was set on something right then, and she didn't think she could bear to wait to achieve it. She made up her mind about what she was going to do next. All she had to do now was wait for Doon to wake up.

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

_I apologize now…I know this was an extremely short chapter, but I promise that the next one will please you. I hope so, anyway. I'm using a new writing style that I've been developing for about a month or two, so I also hope that it is okay. Please review! I want to know if you think there is anything I need to improve on, so that I can make the changes. One day, if I ever get the chance to achieve my goal of being a writer, I'll need the criticism! _

_Arigato! :3_

_-Caitie Manda_


	3. Chapter 3

Doon woke up to the sound of different noises. He lie on his pallet, feigning sleep for a few minutes, just to secretly listen to Lina pitter-pattering about. He could hear the occasional "CLANK!" of a pot or pan, or the shuffle of her feet on the hard, stone floor. Finally, he opened his eyes and sat up. Lina had her back to him, poking at the fire to keep it going while she made breakfast. "Good morning!" Doon greeted her, a cheerful ring in his voice as he did so.

Lina jumped nearly a foot in the air in surprise, and clapped her hand over her heart to slow her heartbeat down. Doon guessed that it was probably beating so fast that it sounded like a hummingbird flitting around in her chest. She took a few deep breaths, managing to say between them, "You scared me!"

"I sort of guessed that." Doon laughed, scooting off of his pallet and turning to it to fold it up and put it away.

"I made breakfast," Lina said, "I went to the forest and gathered some eggs and fresh fruit." Doon walked over to her and examined what she had done. While he had been asleep, Lina had gotten out plates and eating utensils, and was just finishing the last egg. She scraped it off the bottom of the old metal skillet onto a plate, and handed it to Doon.

"Thanks." He said appreciatively, looking at his fluffy yellow scrambled eggs and sliced apple, plum, and blackberries. He plopped down beside Lina and ate his breakfast, enjoying every bite. _"One day,"_ Doon thought , _"I hope to eat her breakfasts every morning."_

He looked over at the girl beside him. She seemed a bit more reserved and deep into her own thoughts than usual. The girl snapped out of it when she felt his brown eyed gaze. Doon raised an eyebrow in questioning as her blue eyes met his. "Me? I'm fine." She smiled, speaking quickly and waving away the subject with her hand.

"You never were a good liar, Lina Mayfleet." Doon said, putting his empty plate on the floor next to the fire. Lina laid hers on top and picked them both up to go and wash them. "Wait, Lina." Lina was at the cave entrance. She cringed as he spoke those words, and turned on her heels to look at him.

"Yes?"

"What's the matter with you?" Lina could tell, by the serious look in Doon's eye that he wasn't joking around. Lina sighed and set the plates down, then walked over to him and sat beside him.

"Doon," Lina said, her cheeks instantly blushing a bright reddish pink color. Doon kept his steady gaze upon her, giving her his full attention. Lina forced herself to look at him. "lately, I've been…uh…feeling..." Doon waited calmly for her to finish. She broke the gaze and looked at her hands. _"Don't be a coward."_ Lina shouted to herself in her head, _"Now's your time to tell him! Don't screw this up!"_

Doon could tell that whatever it was that she was trying to tell him was hard for her. Lina had a lump in her throat that threatened to burst if she opened her mouth, but she swallowed hard to push it down. "Lina." Lina looked up at Doon, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Yes, I do!" Lina argued stubbornly, "It's really important that you know."

"That I know what?"

"That you know…that you…" Lina's thoughts went blank as she stared into his eyes. She was absorbed in them…swimming deeper and deeper…then a thought occurred to Lina. She reached out and took Doon's hand in her own. It was larger than hers, but she held onto it gently. Doon looked from their hands to Lina and back to their hands. Lina took a deep breath, moving a little closer to him. "I-I wanted you to know that I…I really…like you…"

Doon blushed when she said this, and for a moment he just sat and held her small hand in his, but finally, he said, "I like you a lot, too." Lina smiled, still blushing, and did something that she had wanted to do for a while. The thing that haunted her dreams at night and even her thoughts during the daytime…the one thing that had mesmerized her from the moment she and Doon started on this trip. She leaned over and touched his face with her hand, and, letting go of his hand, cradled his face in her hands for a moment, then brought it down so his lips could meet her own.

Doon was completely speechless. He couldn't believe what was happening. Lina couldn't either. _"This is exactly what I wanted," _she thought, _"only better."_ Lina moved her hands from his face to the back of his neck, and Doon's arms were wrapped around her waist.

Their lips parted and they sat forehead to forehead, only inches apart. "I didn't see that coming." Doon said breathlessly.

"Neither did I." Lina agreed. They sat there for a moment laughing together, their faces merely inches apart, and Doon closed the gap again. Lina could feel Doon's mouth curl into a smile, and she broke apart for a moment to laugh, but then started kissing him again. She knew the answer to the question now._ "Yes,"_ Lina thought, _"this is exactly how love feels."_

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

_Sorry, but I'm afraid to say that that is the end of this fanfic! I am extremely sorry that it is so short, but I have some on the way that'll be a lot more Lina/Doon, I promise!_


End file.
